Item - 2024.EY14.1

The Etobicoke York Community Council recommends that:

1. City Council adopt Official Plan Amendment 633, Jane Finch Secondary Plan, included as Attachment 1 to the report (February 7, 2024) titled Jane Finch Secondary Plan and Urban Design Guidelines – Final Report, from the Director, Community Planning, Etobicoke York District, with the following amendments:

a. Policy 4.1.i): add the words ", supported by community service facilities." after the words "such as garden suites and multiplexes";

b. Policy 7.2.6.: delete the word "generally" and add the word "minimum" before the words "planned right-of-way widths";

c. Policy 8.1.4.: at the end of the policy, add the words "Not all sites or locations within a site can accommodate the maximum scale of development anticipated in each district while also supporting liveability and a vibrant public realm. Development will be required to demonstrate that its proposed scale satisfies applicable public realm and built form policies and guidelines.";

d. Policy 8.4.1.i) delete the words "tall buildings and mid-rise buildings." and replace with the words "mid-rise buildings, and tall buildings. Tall building heights will range generally from 15 to 45 storeys.";

e. Policy 8.4.2.e): delete the words "tall buildings, mid-rise buildings and low-rise buildings." and replace with the words "low-rise buildings, mid-rise buildings, and tall buildings. Tall building heights will range generally from 15 to 30 storeys.";

f. Policy 8.4.3.c): delete the words "tall buildings, mid-rise buildings and low-rise buildings." and replace with the words "low-rise buildings, mid-rise buildings, and tall buildings. Tall building heights will range generally from 15 to 25 storeys.";

g. Policy 8.4.4.b): delete the words "tall buildings, Jane Finch Pavilion buildings and mid-rise buildings." and replace with the words "mid-rise buildings, Jane Finch Pavilion buildings, and tall buildings. Tall building heights will range generally from 15 to 25 storeys.";

h. Policy 8.4.5.d): delete the words "will be in the form of tall buildings, Jane Finch Pavilion buildings and mid-rise buildings." and replace with the words "will consist of mid-rise buildings, Jane Finch Pavilion buildings, and tall buildings. Tall building heights will range generally from 15 to 35 storeys.";

i. Policy 8.4.6.b): delete the words "will be in the form of tall buildings, Jane Finch Pavilion buildings and mid-rise buildings." and replace with the words "will consist of mid-rise buildings, Jane Finch Pavilion buildings, and tall buildings. Tall building heights will range generally from 15 to 25 storeys.";

j. Replace Map 50-4 with the revised Map 50-4: Mobility Plan showing additional areas for school safety improvements, included in Attachment 2 to this report; and

k. Retitle Map 50-6 from "Map 50-6: Heights and Transitions" to "Map 50-6: Height Limits and Transitions" and change the corresponding reference within Policy 8.1.4. by replacing the words "Map 50-6: Heights and Transitions" to "Map 50-6: Height Limits and Transitions".

2. City Council adopt the Jane Finch Urban Design Guidelines, included as Attachment 2 to the report (February 7, 2024), from the Director, Community Planning, Etobicoke York District.

3. City Council direct the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to use the Jane Finch Secondary Plan and Jane Finch Urban Design Guidelines in the evaluation of all current and new development applications within the Secondary Plan area.

4. City Council adopt the Jane Finch Parks and Public Realm Strategy, included as Attachment 3 to the report (February 7, 2024) from the Director, Community Planning, Etobicoke York District and direct the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, the General Manager, Transportation Services, and the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to use the strategy to advance parks and public realm initiatives within the Jane Finch Initiative study area.

5. City Council adopt the Jane Finch Mobility and Transit Integration Strategy, included as Attachment 4 to the Supplementary Report (May 27, 2024) from the Director, Community Planning, Etobicoke York District and direct the General Manager, Transportation Services, and the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to use the strategy to advance mobility initiatives in the Jane Finch Initiative study area.

6. City Council adopt the Jane Finch Community Service Facilities Strategy, included as Attachment 5, to the report (February 7, 2024), from the Director, Community Planning, Etobicoke York District, and direct the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture, the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, the General Manager, Children's Services, and the City Librarian, Toronto Public Library Board, in consultation with the Toronto District School Board and the Toronto Catholic District School Board, to use the strategy to inform future capital planning.

7. City Council adopt the Jane Finch Secondary Plan Servicing Capacity Assessment included as Attachment 7 to the report (February 7, 2024) from the Director, Community Planning, Etobicoke York District, and direct the General Manager, Toronto Water and the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services to use the study in the review of development applications.

8. City Council request the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to bring forward amendments to Zoning By-law 569-2013 containing regulatory and performance standards to implement the land uses for the Jane Finch Secondary Plan.

9. City Council direct the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to work with the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture to support a broad range of commercial uses and employment growth within the Jane Finch Secondary Plan area, particularly in implementing policies 5.1.2., 5.1.3. and 5.1.4. of the Jane Finch Secondary Plan, through the promotion and application of existing City of Toronto supports and incentive programs for retail and main street business development and employment growth.

10. City Council authorize the City Solicitor and appropriate City staff to take such necessary steps, as required, to implement City Council’s decision.

The Etobicoke York Community Council commenced a statutory public meeting on February 26, 2024 that continued on June 3, 2024, and notice was given in accordance with the Planning Act.

This report recommends that City Council adopt the recommended Jane Finch Secondary Plan and associated Urban Design Guidelines, to provide a comprehensive planning framework for the area around the intersection of Jane Street and Finch Avenue West.

This Official Plan Amendment (OPA) would leverage the significant public investment in new transit infrastructure through the Finch West Light Rail Transit (LRT) by directing development to appropriate locations, transforming the area to support walking, cycling and transit use, and identifying public realm improvements and community facilities necessary to meet the needs of existing and future residents and workers. It advances the vision of an inclusive, transit-supportive and climate-resilient complete community, with a strong mixed-use core where local-serving retail and service uses would continue to thrive. The Secondary Plan would facilitate the development of significant new housing, with policies that encourage a diversity of housing types, forms, tenures and affordability. The Secondary Plan centres equity with a focus on outcomes for Indigenous, Black and equity-deserving groups, including implementation policies that would minimize displacement of residents and businesses.

This report also recommends amendments to other Official Plan policies. These include extending the Avenues along the Finch West Light Rail Transit route, adjusting right-of-way widths for Jane Street and Finch Avenue West to support objectives for a complete street with a generous public realm, transit-priority measure and planned higher-order transit, redesignating certain lands close to Light Rail Transit stops to Mixed Use Areas and in one location to Apartment Neighbourhoods, and establishing locations for new streets to create developable blocks within the large mall, plaza and mixed-use sites in the study area. Two Site and Area Specific Policies are recommended for deletion to align plans for those sites with this updated policy context.

The Jane Finch Secondary Plan and Urban Design Guidelines are an outcome of the Jane Finch Initiative, which is an interdivisional three-phased project that began in 2020. A companion plan, the Jane Finch Community Development Plan, stewarded by Social Development Finance and Administration (SDFA) and Economic Development and Culture (EDC), is proceeding through Economic and Community Development Committee in the same City Council cycle. The Jane Finch Initiative was informed by a thorough public consultation process facilitated by the Jane/Finch Centre, concurrent review of development applications, and input of staff from various City Divisions, commenting agencies and key stakeholder organizations. Two previous reports to City Council presented various milestones of the planning study, the most recent being the adoption of the Ideas Report by City Council in May 2022. This staff report presents the results of the public consultation process for Phase 2 (on the Ideas Report) and for Phase 3 (on the proposed Secondary Plan and Urban Design Guidelines).

This recommended Official Plan Amendment is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement (2020) and conforms to A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2020) and the Greenbelt Plan (2017).

At its meeting of February 26, 2024, Etobicoke York Community Council (EYCC) convened the statutory public meeting to consider Official Plan Amendment (OPA) 633 for the Jane Finch Secondary Plan. The item was adjourned to the June 3 EYCC meeting. Staff were directed to conduct further public consultation on maximizing economic opportunities and job growth, with a focus on a potential cluster of businesses and institutions centred on Finch Avenue West and Norfinch Drive/Oakdale Road; and to undertake a review of building heights throughout the secondary plan area.

In response to the direction, staff conducted further community consultation at a public event held on April 18, 2024 at Yorkgate Mall. Staff also analyzed existing and recommended land uses centred on Finch Avenue West and Norfinch Drive/Oakdale Road and reviewed available City supports and incentive programs for retail and main street business development and employment growth. Staff then reviewed the proposed secondary plan policies and developed further recommendations, as outlined in this report, based on the analysis and consultation conducted since the plan was released.

The malls and other large sites near Finch West LRT stops, together with the infill potential along Jane Street, are opportunities to develop a significant number of new homes and additional affordable housing, within a transit-supportive complete community that has a strong commercial core as a community gathering space. City Council has adopted four Protected Major Transit Station Area delineations that apply to the Jane Finch Secondary Plan area and policies in the secondary plan support the achievement of minimum densities needed to implement inclusionary zoning. Policies also facilitate the achievement of the transit-supportive densities necessary to meet Toronto’s Housing Action Plan target of 285,000 homes by 2031.

It is recommended that secondary plan policies and related maps be refined to make it clear that the building heights set out in the plan are maximum limits that will not be able to be achieved on all sites. The policy intention is that, where tall buildings are permitted, they should be developed at a range of heights, including buildings below the maximum, and should meet the built form and liveability standards set out in policy and guidelines.

To maximize economic opportunities and job growth in the plan area, it is recommended that the implementation of the secondary plan's policies on replacement of non-residential gross floor area be undertaken in collaboration with Economic Development and Culture Division, with a focus on applying City supports and incentive programs for retail and main street business development and employment growth.

To include additional locations for school safety improvements in the plan area and fix some typographical errors, it is recommended that Map 50-4 Mobility Plan and the Jane Finch Mobility and Transit Integration Strategy be updated. Further revisions for clarity and ease of interpretation are recommended including clarifying that new Mixed Use Shared Streets will have minimum right-of-way widths of 18.5 metres.

The proposed revisions are described in the comments section and are itemized in the recommendations of this report. This supplementary report carries forward recommendations 2 and 4-9 from the report dated February 7, 2024, from the Director, Community Planning, Etobicoke York District. For clarity, the full text of the policies and the maps as amended are provided in Attachments 1 and 2 to this report.